Unbeaten super lightweight contender Vergil Ortiz Jr. will headline his first fight card June 23 in Los Angeles, and he’ll do it after recently leaving the California desert to train with Robert Garcia in Riverside.

Ortiz, from Grand Prairie, Texas, began his professional career two years ago in Indio with revered trainer Joel Diaz. He had compiled a 140-20 amateur record, and together with Diaz the pair won their first nine bouts, all of which were knockouts inside of four rounds.

Reached by phone, Ortiz Sr. said that it was nothing personal toward Diaz, he simply wanted to get his son some additional coaching and a different perspective that would allow his son to continue progressing in the ring.

“Sometimes you need different training methods, maybe a different voice,” said Vergil Sr., who has closely managed every detail of his son’s career over the years.

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Vergil Ortiz, 19, is a prospect in the world of elite boxing. Ortiz integrates his love of music into his technical ability to box by using rhythm to counter his opponents. Ortiz will be the co-main event at Fantasy Springs Casino on the ESPN fight card February 22, 2018.
(Photo11: Omar Ornelas/The Desert Sun)

Vergil Ortiz Jr., who'll fight next week against two-time world champion Juan Carlos Salgado (27-8-1, 16 knockouts) at Belasco Theater on ESPN, confirmed that it was his dad's decision to change trainers, and added, "I trust my dad because he knows what’s best for me."

He said that leaving trainers Joel Diaz and his brother, former world champion Antonio Diaz, was difficult -- but he reminds himself that the move was made in the best interest of his career, and that he expects to remain close friends with the Diaz brothers.

It is not unusual for professional boxers to change trainers over the course of their careers. Timothy Bradley Jr., a five-time world champion from the Coachella Valley, hired Teddy Atlas to train him for his final two fights after a decade with Diaz. Pacquiao is not working with longtime trainer Freddie Roach for his fight with Matthysse, after Pacquiao and Roach together won world titles in eight weight classes.

Those are just two examples, and like those two the situation between Ortiz and Diaz is particularly surprising because, as both parties have said, the team was very much like a family.

“They were really close with my boy,” Ortiz Sr. said. “They treated him like family.”

Ortiz Sr. insisted that the change of gyms was not personal. He said it was merely what he believed was in the best interest of his son at the time.

“It’s like school,” he said. “Just because you go to one school over another, it doesn’t mean that the school is better, just different. And I felt it is what he needed at this time.

“I have to watch out for my son because at the end of the day I have to make sure I have him where he needs to be to keep his career moving forward.”

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Vergil Ortiz, 19, is a prospect in the world of elite boxing. Ortiz integrates his love of music into his technical ability to box by using rhythm to counter his opponents. Ortiz will be the co-main event at Fantasy Springs Casino on the ESPN fight card February 22, 2018.
(Photo11: Omar Ornelas/The Desert Sun)

Ortiz expressed concerns about his son training during the same time as Matthysse, who is clearly the highest profile boxer among more than a dozen pros training at the gym. He wondered whether Diaz would be able to give his son the same amount of attention, though acknowledged that the same internal conflict exists in Riverside, where Garcia trains his younger brother, unbeaten lineal welterweight champion Mike Garcia.

Diaz wrestled with the loss of Ortiz for a while, he said, because of the disappointment he felt about no longer working with someone he believes is a rising star and “a good kid.” But he said he’s come to terms with it all.

“Some come, some go,” he said. “It happens in this business. It’s a big loss, but we have to move on.”

Ortiz Sr. said he hopes there won’t be any lingering animosity between he and Diaz and the rest of the team in Indio that helped position his son to challenge for a world title very soon.

“I want my son to have a long career, and a healthy career,” Ortiz Sr. said, “and I want him to just sharpen up his skills a little more, that’s all. Everybody has their own style, and it can only help to learn different styles from different trainers.

“For me, everything is fine with Joel. I’m fine with everybody there, and I hope everybody’s OK with me.”

Andrew John covers boxing in the Coachella Valley and beyond for The Desert Sun and the USA Today Network. Find him on Twitter: Andrew_L_John